As Nigerians are gearing to vote for a new set of leadership come 2023, there is this fear that the political class who would be wanting to secure the ballots for themselves may not pursue an issue based approach to the campaigns which in turn would be a minus to the Nigerian people and the development of our democracy.
Rather these politicians are seeking to employ all manner of below the belt tactics in order to launch various levels of smear campaigns against their opponents. In the forthcoming weeks, we are likely to witness a deluge of fabricated stories and deployment of fake news with the sole intent of tainting the imagery of their opponents while they leave pertinent issues asides.
The advent and heavy use of social media has also made this style of campaigns very possible. Coupled with what is termed as the children’s of the mob who descend with hate and vitriol upon such candidates, the tendency for an issue based campaign in the 2023 elections is very minimal.
I will not also fail to mention the other evil in the use of propaganda with the sole aim of skewing the narrative to suit the interests of one candidate, party, ethnic group or religion to the detriment of the other.
The use of such is however not alien to the Nigerian people. I have heard and read about the propaganda methods deployed by the New Nigeria and Radio Kaduna mediums in the hey days of the First Republic. The other regions which were dominated by the NCNC and AG respectfully engaged equally in such macabre dance. The Second Republic was not so different despite the emergence of states instead of regions, with each state controlling its own electronic and print mediums with the sole intention to wade off any political interloper. For example in Anambra the broadcast mantra was “East for the Easterners, West for the Westerners and North for the Northerners” A simple analysis of the statement would be quite easy. The Nigerian Peoples Party or NPP was seen as the party of the East or Igbo party, the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN was seen as a Western Region or Yoruba party and the National Party of Nigeria, NPN despite its national spread and coloration was reduced to a Northern party. This was simply a recourse to the events of the First Republic which saw the three main regions jostle for power using their regional parties.However, this was yet the general trend as even the NPN deployed the heavy use of ethnic and religious politics in areas where it suited it.
The botched Third and the Fourth Republics didn’t witness much of such, as they were under the stern eyes of the military, and the politicians did fear that any foul play could give the military the excuse to stay put and so the politicians then like little rascals under close observation from their guardians pretended to behave themselves.
The 2003 to the 2019 elections were thus no different. 2011, saw the infusion of the new media into electioneering and its dominant use afterwards.
For the 2023 elections to be termed as totally successful, there is need for the candidates, political parties and the media to ensure that whatever content going out for the consumption of the voting public is one that is centered on any of the issues affecting the common man and how such issues can be confronted to make life better for all. The media houses in particular and the broadcast regulatory bodies must see such a challenge as a responsibility or duty. The concept of gatekeeping imposes on the media such responsibilities, thus the media regulators must ensure that whether it be print, broadcast, or online, the principles of fair journalism must be implemented. Now while this may be easy for the print and broadcast sectors, it is not same for the online media which has since its advent become the enfant terrible of mediasphere particularly in Nigeria.
Armed with a laptop or any mobile device with access to data, millions can be reached within seconds causing spontaneous reactions to such items. Now in a country where media literacy is quite low, such elements of disinformation would readily be consumed and believed. So with the mob mentality, an individual can allege that a candidate has collapsed and is being rushed to India or France, while another could be accused of swallowing a very big morsel of Amala without drinking water!
Each party it seems is guilty of such misdemeanours, however the opposition parties are on overdrive in their race to paint each other with their very tarred brush.
Nigerians would readily appreciate a 2023 campaign that dwells mainly on issues, nothing more would be acceptable.